Your helpdesk question sounds like two issues. A technical issue and an employee issue. I used to run IT for a 200 person firm with a team that had 2 AS/400 guys, 1 desktop PC guy, and myself. I had a very similar issue you are describing, the IT staff didn't get measured and the business management felt IT was way too expensive considering the value they received. Previous post is right - you can be friendly but you are no longer a buddy, you run the team. Here is what I did =
Technical issue = I installed OTRS/Apache/MySQL on Linux. 100% open source, no software costs to company. Tied to Active Directory LDAP for authentication. Users can do tickets by telephone call, email, or enter via web interface, tickets auto-generated by Nagios (again - 100% open source on Linux) monitoring for critical alerts. OTRS notifications to IT staff via email and SMS messages to phones. Used existing instance of MS SQL Server reporting services (this is a great reporting tool) to query Mysql and to send eye-candy pdf pie charts via email of IT helpdesk activities to Business Management. PC guy and I like the system, AS/400 guys grumble about learning new technology. Used OTRS as poor man's change management system as well. Rewrote job descriptions to include helpdesk activities.
Employee issue = Both AS/400 guys have history of refusing to do anything that isn't RPG - unbelievable. We only have 4 IT staff, that kind of IT bigotry isn't going to cut it. Incredibly, consultants do the major work for the ERP system (customizations, upgrades, reporting, OS patching). What do these guys do? When I ask the guys to document daily tasks it sets off my BS detector. As the new leader of IT I know it's my butt on the line if I don't fix this issue. It becomes very clear that one guy doesn't contribute. He is not looking good on the charts, many tickets open, no activity on tickets assigned to him, everyone sees it now in measurable terms. Subsequent counseling sessions and write ups for this guy and the writing is on the wall. Other AS/400 employee gets the picture, becomes more productive, contributes to Intel support. HR is impressed; we have a documented history of poor performance for the bad apple.
An effective helpdesk is a good way to provide proof of IT value to the SMB (small/medium business) as well as a way to identify and weed out folks that are dragging down the team.
Note - I have worked with very good AS/400 staff at other companies who knew java wasn't just a drink, knew how to setup LPARS, ran apache on the 400, etc. These guys were abusing a small company that didn't understand IT.
Don't forget the midrange COBOL stuff. Tandem and AS/400! (Disclaimer - you can still buy new versions of both with fancy new names and fancy pricing schemes). While not as exciting as an older PC these things were in the data centers for many a company in the pre-internet days and many are still around.
I've worked with CS degreed folks as well as no-degree and liberal arts degree, etc. These degrees help to get your foot in the door and give solid footing. But your drive and ability to learn and apply new technology is far more important in the long run. The successful people in the IT field that I know are constantly learning and have an interest in the field beyond salaries, titles, etc. For example, one guy I know learned AS400 RPG in the 90's and refuses to learn newer technologies - his career is on a death spiral, low raises, less companies using obsolete platform, decreasing vendor pool, IBM rep tries to sell him AIX/Linux!, it goes on and on. My advice is to get in the field, pay your dues, learn all that you can, never resting on what you did in the past (like a CS degree, RPG, NT 4,.ASP, whatever). The future is coming every day.
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Your helpdesk question sounds like two issues. A technical issue and an employee issue. I used to run IT for a 200 person firm with a team that had 2 AS/400 guys, 1 desktop PC guy, and myself. I had a very similar issue you are describing, the IT staff didn't get measured and the business management felt IT was way too expensive considering the value they received. Previous post is right - you can be friendly but you are no longer a buddy, you run the team. Here is what I did =
Technical issue = I installed OTRS/Apache/MySQL on Linux. 100% open source, no software costs to company. Tied to Active Directory LDAP for authentication. Users can do tickets by telephone call, email, or enter via web interface, tickets auto-generated by Nagios (again - 100% open source on Linux) monitoring for critical alerts. OTRS notifications to IT staff via email and SMS messages to phones. Used existing instance of MS SQL Server reporting services (this is a great reporting tool) to query Mysql and to send eye-candy pdf pie charts via email of IT helpdesk activities to Business Management. PC guy and I like the system, AS/400 guys grumble about learning new technology. Used OTRS as poor man's change management system as well. Rewrote job descriptions to include helpdesk activities.
Employee issue = Both AS/400 guys have history of refusing to do anything that isn't RPG - unbelievable. We only have 4 IT staff, that kind of IT bigotry isn't going to cut it. Incredibly, consultants do the major work for the ERP system (customizations, upgrades, reporting, OS patching). What do these guys do? When I ask the guys to document daily tasks it sets off my BS detector. As the new leader of IT I know it's my butt on the line if I don't fix this issue. It becomes very clear that one guy doesn't contribute. He is not looking good on the charts, many tickets open, no activity on tickets assigned to him, everyone sees it now in measurable terms. Subsequent counseling sessions and write ups for this guy and the writing is on the wall. Other AS/400 employee gets the picture, becomes more productive, contributes to Intel support. HR is impressed; we have a documented history of poor performance for the bad apple.
An effective helpdesk is a good way to provide proof of IT value to the SMB (small/medium business) as well as a way to identify and weed out folks that are dragging down the team.
Note - I have worked with very good AS/400 staff at other companies who knew java wasn't just a drink, knew how to setup LPARS, ran apache on the 400, etc. These guys were abusing a small company that didn't understand IT.
Don't forget the midrange COBOL stuff. Tandem and AS/400! (Disclaimer - you can still buy new versions of both with fancy new names and fancy pricing schemes). While not as exciting as an older PC these things were in the data centers for many a company in the pre-internet days and many are still around.
I've worked with CS degreed folks as well as no-degree and liberal arts degree, etc. These degrees help to get your foot in the door and give solid footing. But your drive and ability to learn and apply new technology is far more important in the long run. The successful people in the IT field that I know are constantly learning and have an interest in the field beyond salaries, titles, etc. For example, one guy I know learned AS400 RPG in the 90's and refuses to learn newer technologies - his career is on a death spiral, low raises, less companies using obsolete platform, decreasing vendor pool, IBM rep tries to sell him AIX/Linux!, it goes on and on. My advice is to get in the field, pay your dues, learn all that you can, never resting on what you did in the past (like a CS degree, RPG, NT 4, .ASP, whatever). The future is coming every day.